Last night’s A.S. Council meeting was full of variations on
a theme of sustainability. Two special presentations focused on climate
protection and environmentally friendly transportation. The conservation of “W”
marks, a precious resource for students facing insurmountably difficult
midquarter course work, was also addressed.
Sustainability Coordinator Maggie Souder provided an
overview of UCSD’s future as a green campus. Souder touched on matters of green
building design, composting and waste reduction efforts.
She said that in response to environmental concerns first
raised by the UC Board of Regents in 2002, the campus aims to to eliminate 100
percent of waste sent to landfills by 2020. That figure currently stands at 37
percent.
Souder also discussed UCSD’s participation in “Focus the
Nation” on Jan. 31, a nationwide global warming awareness campaign. She said
that UCSD will be lighting a large, electrified “You have the power” sign in
honor of the event. The display’s design may involve a polar bear — hopefully a
symbolic one — to draw attention to the consequences the species has suffered
from global warming.
Following in Souder’s footsteps, representatives from the
All Campus Commuter Board presented information about the impending parking
crunch and the need for alternative forms of transportation. Despite an
expected enrollment increase of approximately 5,300 students by 2012-13, the
number of parking spaces is projected to decrease by 1,600.
The representatives covered the requisite bullet points of
green transportation, focusing primarily on carpooling, UCSD’s Pedal Club for
bicyclists and a suggestion to expand the range of the student bus pass to
include all of San Diego by raising student fees.
The ACCB representatives were united in their opposition to
the construction of a new parking structure and echoed Souder’s earlier
observation that it is “ridiculous to think about building more parking spaces
when we should be using fewer of them.”
Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Long Pham
reported that the Committee on Educational Policy approved a proposal to modify
the class withdrawal policy. Under the proposal, students will not be allowed
to have more than one “W” mark per class.
All Campus Senator Utsav Gupta announced that he was forming
a football feasibility taskforce to investigate the possibility of an
intercollegiate football team at UCSD, and was met with polite, albeit tepid,
approval from councilmembers.
Associate Vice President of Student Advocacy Neetu Balram
warned the council about the potential perils of writing an essay without doing
the required reading. According to her, that qualifies as earning a grade
through dishonest means and opens up the possibility of academic dishonesty
allegations.
Pham gingerly asked if “skimming” books fell under the
definition of dishonest means, but Balram did not have a specific answer. She
did, however, clarify that the cherished tradition of “Sparknoting” qualified
as dishonest — to the sound of nervous laughter.
